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    A UG U

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    M E M B E R P O R T R A I T

    M. David Mullen, ASC

    W W W . T H E A S C . C O M

    TO SUBSCRIBE BY PHONE:

    Call (800) 448-0145 (U.S. only)

    (323) 969-4333 or visit the ASC Web site

    s an undergraduate, I

    spent many hours in the

    UCLA library reading

    and re-reading old issues ofAmerican Cinematographer,

    going all the way back to the

    1920s. The magazine was

    really my first film school, but

    more than a technical

    education, what I discovered in

    those pages were the people

    who would become my

    mentors, artistic heroes and

    role models.The human element of

    cinematography should never

    be ignored. Ultimately, its the

    people behind the cameras that

    have a far greater impact on

    the images created than the

    tools they employ.

    M. David Mullen, ASC

    A

    phot

    obyOwenRoizman,ASC

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    www.schneideroptics.com Phone: 818-766-3715 800-228-1254 It Starts with the Glass tm

    Im a big believer in filters. As soon as I discovered SchneidersDigiCon I knew it was the magic that The Bill Engvall Showdeserved. It allows me to create a much more filmic look. I no longerhave to reign in the highlights. And I can open up the blacks. I canlight bolder 2 to 3 stops now becomes 4 or 5.

    Our kitchen has always been a challengetoo flat. Not with the

    DigiCon. We have depth and separation.Thanks to the DigiCon, when we do exteriors the pavement

    can be hotter and the foliage plays nicely. We can really geta sense of location.

    My engineer loves what he sees on the monitor. And so doesour colorist. The DigiCon allows us more of a range to playwith and to create a stronger, richer image.

    Thanks to Schneiders DigiCon,I can now create the beautiful

    image that The Bill EngvallShow deserves.

    Pho

    toofGeorgeMooradianbyJoelLipton

    For George's DigiCon chat visit:

    Director of Photography George Mooradian is athree time Emmy Award nominee for the hitseriesAccording to Jim. Before moving into themulti-camera world, he was cinematographer onover a dozen movies. He credits operating for

    high-profile cinematographers such as VittorioStoraro, ASC (Dick Tracy) as the foundation fthe feature look he brings to his sit-com projectMooradian is now in his third season ofThe BillEngvall Show.

    B+W Century Schneider

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    28 Fellow FoodiesStephen Goldblatt, ASC, BSC cooks up gourmet

    visuals forJulie & Julia

    38 Exposing a Secret SlaughterBrooke Aitken leads a covert cinematography team onthe documentaryThe Cove

    46 When Not in RomeVisual-effects supervisor Angus Bickertonhelps Salvatore Totino, ASC find religion onAngels & Demons

    54 Robots Run RampantBen Seresin and ILMs Scott Farrar, ASC wreak havocin 15-perf 65mm forTransformers sequel

    Departments

    Features

    V i s i t u s o n l i n e a t w w w. t h e a s c . c o m

    On Our Cover:Julia Child (Meryl Streep) demonstrates the proper way to debone fowl inJulie & Julia,shot by Stephen Goldblatt, ASC, BSC. (Photo by David Giesbrecht, courtesy of Sony Pictures.)

    8 Editors Note10 Letters12 Short Takes: Carousel18 Production Slate: ASC/BSC Panel and

    Stingray Sam

    60 Post Focus: Technicolors DP Lights 2.064 New Products & Services70 International Marketplace72 Classified Ads72 Ad Index74 Clubhouse News76 ASC Close-Up:Aaron Schneider

    54

    A U G U S T 2 0 0 9 V O L . 9 0 N O . 8

    The International Journal of Film & Digital Production Techniques

    46

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    A u g u s t 2 0 0 9 V o l . 9 0 , N o . 8The International Journal of Film & Digital Production Techniques Since 1920

    Visit us online at

    www.theasc.com

    PUBLISHER Martha Winterhalter

    EDITORIAL

    EXECUTIVE EDITOR Stephen Pizzello

    SENIOR EDITOR Rachael K. Bosley

    ASSOCIATE EDITORJon D. Witmer

    TECHNICAL EDITOR Christopher Probst

    CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

    Stephanie Argy, Benjamin B, Douglas Bankston, Robert S. Birchard, John Calhoun,

    Bob Davis, Bob Fisher, Simon Gray, Jim Hemphill, David Heuring, Jay Holben,

    Noah Kadner, Ron Magid, Jean Oppenheimer, John Pavlus, Chris Pizzello, Jon Silberg,

    Iain Stasukevich, Kenneth Sweeney, Patricia Thomson, David E. Williams

    ART DEPARTMENT

    CREATIVE DIRECTOR Marion Gore

    ADVERTISING

    ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTORAngie Gollmann

    323-936-3769 FAX 323-936-9188

    e-mail: [email protected]

    ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Sanja Pearce

    323-908-3114 FAX 323-876-4973

    e-mail: [email protected]

    ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Scott Burnell

    323-936-0672 FAX 323-936-9188

    e-mail: [email protected]

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    323-908-3124 FAX 323-876-4973

    e-mail: [email protected]

    CIRCULATION, BOOKS & PRODUCTS

    CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Saul Molina

    CIRCULATION MANAGERAlex Lopez

    SHIPPING MANAGER Miguel Madrigal

    ASC GENERAL MANAGER Brett Grauman

    ASC EVENTS COORDINATOR Patricia Armacost

    ASC PRESIDENTS ASSISTANT Kim Weston

    ASC ACCOUNTING MANAGER Mila Basely

    ASC ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE Corey Clark

    American Cinematographer(ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 89th year of publication, is published

    monthly in Hollywood by ASC Holding Corp., 1782 N. Orange Dr., Hollywood, CA 90028, U.S.A.,(800) 448-0145, (323) 969-4333, Fax (323) 876-4973, direct line for subscription i nquiries (323) 969-4344.

    Subscriptions: U.S. $50; Canada/Mexico $70; all other foreign countries $95 a year (remit internationalMoney Order or other exchange payable in U.S. $). Advertising: Rate card upon request from Hollywood

    office. Article Reprints: Requests for high-quality article reprints (or electronic reprints) should be made toSheridan Reprints at (800) 635-7181 ext. 8065 or by e-mail [email protected].

    Copyright 2007 ASC Holding Corp. (All r ights reserved.) Periodicals postage paid at Los Angeles, CAand at additional mailing offices. Printed in the USA.

    POSTMASTER: Send address change toAmerican Cinematographer, P.O. Box 2230, Hollywood, CA 90078.

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    OFFICERS - 2009/2010

    Michael GoiPresident

    Richard CrudoVice President

    Owen RoizmanVice President

    Victor J. KemperVice President

    Matthew LeonettiTreasurer

    Rodney TaylorSecretary

    John C. Flinn IIISergeant At Arms

    MEMBERS OF THE BOARD

    Curtis ClarkRichard Crudo

    George Spiro DibieRichard Edlund

    John C. Flinn IIIJohn Hora

    Victor J. KemperMatthew LeonettiStephen LighthillIsidore Mankofsky

    Daryn OkadaOwen RoizmanNancy SchreiberHaskell Wexler

    Vilmos Zsigmond

    ALTERNATES

    Fred ElmesSteven Fierberg

    Ron GarciaMichael D. OShea

    Michael Negrin

    MUSEUM CURATOR

    Steve Gainer

    American Society of Cinematographers

    The ASC is not a labor union or a guild, butan educational, cultural and professionalorganization. Membership is by invitation

    to those who are actively engaged asdirectors of photography and have

    demonstrated outstanding ability. ASCmembership has become one of the highest

    honors that can be bestowed upon aprofessional cinematographer a mark

    of prestige and excellence.

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    Our publicity pals at Sony Pictures could not have

    picked a better time to alert us to an early

    screening of Julie & Julia, a foodies delight that

    stars Meryl Streep as Julia Child and Amy Adams

    as one of her most motivated disciples. My mother

    was in town for a visit, and as a longtime fan of

    Childs, she was the perfect test viewer. As tantaliz-

    ing images of Paris bistros and gourmet cuisine

    glided across the screen, Mom sighed with content-

    ment. Suffice to say, the movie should be a hit with

    its target audience.

    Stephen Goldblatt, ASC, BSC, the man

    responsible for the sumptuous cinematography,

    was so enthusiastic about the project that he

    contacted us early on to offer a sneak peek at the special sauces he and colorist Steve

    Scott were whipping up at EFilm. ACcontributing writer Jean Oppenheimer and I made

    several trips (wisely, after lunch) to absorb the full flavor of their approach, which is

    detailed in Jeans main course on the film (Fellow Foodies, page 28) and side dish on

    the DI (page 32).

    Sometimes its better not to ask how certain foods end up on your plate. The

    daring documentary The Coveuses covert cinematography to expose mass killings of

    dolphins in Taiji, Japan, where the aquatic mammals meat which contains toxic

    levels of mercury is sold to customers who may not know the risks. Director of photog-

    raphy Brook Aitken and his cohorts recount their adventure for New York correspondent

    Pat Thomson (Exposing a Secret Slaughter, page 38).

    This issues special focus is innovative CG effects, and London correspondent

    Mark Hope-Jones details the collaboration that allowed Angels & Demons to film

    sequences set in Vatican City, the Passetto di Borgo and other locations in Rome on a

    soundstage in Los Angeles (When Not in Rome, page 46). Visual-effects supervisorAngus Bickerton and his team coordinated with cinematographer Salvatore Totino, ASC,

    who managed to fool even a veteran effects expert with some car-chase footage. When

    I told him it was all CG, he didnt believe me and had to watch it again, Totino recalls.

    It was fantastic that such a trained eye couldnt tell!

    Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen also employed extensive CGI for key

    action sequences set in exotic locales, including the pyramids in Egypt. Cinematographer

    Ben Seresin consulted with ILM visual-effects supervisor Scott Farrar, ASC, and his team

    to produce two major battle sequences shot in 15-perf 65mm and VistaVision as well as

    anamorphic 35mm. The grand scale of Imax really appealed to us, and the huge physi-

    cal scale of these robots seemed perfect for the format, Seresin tells Jay Holben, who

    also interviewed Farrar (Robots Run Rampant, page 54). Judging by the pictures box-

    office returns, the promise of a big-screen spectacle still draws a crowd.

    Stephen Pizzello

    Executive Editor

    Editors Note

    8

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    End of an Era?I am writing regarding your May

    09 article about the Atom Egoyan film

    Adoration, shot by Paul Sarossy, BSC,

    CSC. First, I must say I love Pauls work,

    particularly The Sweet Hereafter, which

    is one of my favorite films. I have studied

    that film many times, and it has been an

    inspiration for a lot of my own anamor-

    phic work.

    I do believe there are errors in the

    article regarding photochemical timers.

    Regarding a photochemical finish, Paul

    says, The great timers at Deluxe

    [Canada], Chris Hinton and Art

    Montreuil, are gone.... We just wanted

    to shoot it, develop it, time it and print it.

    That proved to be almost impossible.

    The article goes on to say the filmmak-

    ers had to digitally time two reels

    because of dirt introduced at the nega-

    tive-cutting stage. Then, Paul says, Two

    summers ago, I photochemically timed

    Charlie Bartlett at Deluxe Hollywood,

    and that was a great experience, but I

    was led to understand that we were

    using the last timer still working, Chris

    Regan. He continues, Even in Holly-

    wood, its the end of an era, and I mournthe passing of this absolutely beautiful

    medium. Its not over yet, but you can

    see the future evolving.

    There is no doubt that there are

    many advantages to a digital intermedi-

    ate it is a powerful tool, as Paul notes

    but you can still time a film photo-

    chemically, and for some dramas, it is a

    beautiful and creative choice. I timed the

    anamorphic feature That Evening Sun

    photochemically at Deluxe this year, and

    there are still many timers workingthere. In fact, I asked Harry Muller, the

    timer with whom I worked, how many

    photochemical timers still work at the

    lab. In an e-mail, he responded, Deluxe

    Hollywood has 18 photochemical timers,

    eight of which I would classify as

    veteran timers. I also asked Terry

    Haggar at Technicolor to comment. Terry

    wrote, I can assure you the crew I am

    working with now is technically the best

    there is not the characters of old, but

    very good. Three have been digital

    colorists. All in all, we have 11 timers,

    and we handle a lot of film.

    By the way, you should see the

    smile on a timers face when you arrive

    for a photochemical finish.

    I look forward to more films from

    Paul Sarossy, and I even hope well see

    another with a photochemical finish. If I

    had a print of The Sweet Hereafter, Id

    watch it this afternoon. I guess a DVD

    will have to do.

    Rodney Taylor, ASC

    Los Angeles, Calif.

    Letters to the editor can be sent to:

    Letters, American Cinematogra-pher, 1782 N. Orange Dr., Los Ange-

    les, CA, 90028. Letters must includeyour full name, address and tele-

    phone number. AC reserves theright to edit submissions for length

    and clarity.

    Letters

    10

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    Produced to show off the features of

    the new Philips Cinema 21:9

    widescreen television, the 2-minute

    spot Carousel (www.philips.com

    /cinema) begins with a gang of robbers,

    dressed in jumpsuits and clown masks,

    trapped in an alley by a police blockade.As a gun battle rages, the camera moves

    into an adjacent hospital, where more

    criminals face additional resistance.

    Rather than presenting the action with

    quick, kinetic cuts, director Adam Berg

    chose to focus on a moment in time and

    survey the violence with a fluid, extended

    take that ends on the same frame with

    which it begins.

    Cinematographer Fredrik Bckar,

    FSF recalls his initial impression of the

    idea: I didnt know if we were going tobe able to do it in the short amount of

    time we had. But Berg had executed a

    similar concept albeit on a smaller

    scale for a European jeans commer-

    cial, and he brought that spots visual-

    effects supervisor, Richard Lyons of

    Stockholms Redrum Post, to Carousel.

    With only three shooting days, the

    crew set to work in a building at a univer-

    sity in Prague that would serve as the

    Carousel Showcases Philips New Widescreen TVby Iain Stasukevich

    Short Takes

    Right: A criminalsends a policeofficer through

    the window of anurses station

    in Carousel, aspot for the

    Philips Cinema21:9 widescreen

    television.Below: The

    crew preparesto shoot the

    nurses station;a universitybuilding in

    Prague wasredressed toserve as the

    hospital.

    12 August 2009

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    wagon from which a masked bandit is

    pulled. All of this action was captured in

    the first shot, and much of what ended

    up onscreen existed practically on the

    set, leaving the visual-effects team to

    handle wire removals, a few set exten-

    sions, and environmental effects such as

    fire, shattering glass and bullets. We

    had a bunch of people hanging from

    cranes and wires, recalls Bckar. And

    we had cars on cranes, hanging from

    wires. We filmed [those elements],cleared the set and then filmed it again.

    Using a Milo motion-control rig, the first

    pass was shot with an Arri 435 rolling at

    50 fps to help the actors maintain their

    poses. A clean pass was then

    photographed at 12 fps, and effects

    artists later filled in background

    elements that were obfuscated in the

    first pass.

    Working with what was essen-

    tially a static image allowed Bckar to

    get creative with his lighting, and heknew the lamps would ultimately be

    masked by digital fire effects. He filled

    the back of the exploding truck with

    tungsten Pars pointed in every direction.

    I let them flare into the camera, know-

    ing all of the lights I was using were

    emanating from the source of the explo-

    sion, he says. In a sense, that made

    things easier. If wed actually blown that

    car up, it would have had to come down,

    14 August 2009

    hospital; Berg worked out the actors

    blocking while Bckar, Lyons and produc-

    tion designer Petr Kunc, working from

    detailed storyboards, measured every

    nook and cranny of the space. An

    animatic was assembled that showed

    the filmmakers exactly how the shot

    would play out, with the dimensions of

    the wire-frame building exactly match-

    ing those of the practical building.

    The camera move actually

    comprises seven separate shots stitchedtogether in a Flame console to create

    one seamless take. We wanted to

    make it work repeatedly, with a reveal at

    the end, so when the film ends, you

    learn something new and can watch it

    again with a different perspective, says

    Berg. Bckar adds, The linearity of the

    shot is true. You can walk [the location]

    the way its played out in the film.

    Carousel begins with the

    camera focused on the face of a police

    officer atop the roof of a patrol car. The

    camera then pans left to reveal an

    armored truck in mid-explosion, its

    shockwave launching nearby bodies andvehicles into the air. Pushing through

    flames and burning cash, the camera

    maneuvers around a wrecked station

    The commercialbegins outside

    the hospital,where an

    armored car iscaptured mid-

    explosion. Withactors and

    vehiclessuspended from

    wires,cinematographer

    Fredrik Bckar,FSF utilized aMilo motion-

    control rig andfilled the back ofthe armored car

    with tungstenPars to simulate

    the explosion,which was

    enhanced byvisual-effects

    supervisorRichard Lyons at

    StockholmsRedrum Post.

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    16 August 2009

    and to continue lighting the scene, we

    would have needed lights on the ground

    or on Condors, which would have been a

    lot harder to hide.

    Although we wanted the

    images to have an otherworldly look, we

    wanted naturalism in the blown-out

    highlights around the explosion and the

    way the explosion spreads across the

    scene, continues the cinematographer.

    In the background, the crew placed tung-

    sten 12Ks to rake the walls, along with

    650-watt, 1K and 2K lights for accents.

    If you scroll through the film, youll

    notice Im not using a tremendous

    amount of backlight to lift objects out of

    the background light falls the way it

    would if this were actually happening,

    he notes. It was intimidating because

    everyone could see every possible

    mistake I could make. I went through

    each shot with my gaffer, Pavel Kroupa,about a thousand times!

    The second shot, which takes the

    camera inside the hospital, begins on a

    SuperTechnocrane 50 manually operated

    by Bckar. To match the final position of

    one shot with the first position of the

    next, 1st AC Franta Novak marked the

    lens location with a lens donut rigged to

    a C-stand arm; when the first camera

    was moved, the donut would remain to

    give the crew the proper position for the

    next setup. Editor Paul Hardcastle, who

    was on set with an Avid Xpress system,

    took a feed from the video tap and

    created low-resolution transitions to

    make sure the positions matched as

    closely as possible. All of these transi-

    tions are very open, Lyons emphasizes.

    We didnt use the standard frame wipe

    to hide the move from one shot to

    another.

    Once inside the hospital, the third

    shot again had the camera on the Milo,

    this time for a 360-degree move around

    a nurses station, where a robber kicks a

    cop through the glass enclosure; the CG

    debris was rendered in 3ds Max by

    Lyons team at Redrum. A dollying Scor-

    pio crane with a 3-axis manual head

    then picks up where the Milo leaves off,revealing a SWAT officer and a clown

    vaulting over the edge of the second-

    floor staircase. In addition to erasing the

    actors harnesses and wires, Lyons

    team had to create a CG ceiling because

    the real one was blocked by a truss.

    On the second floor, the camera

    returns to the motion-controlled Milo for

    a hallway shootout, then goes to a Fisher

    dolly, and finally ends on the

    SuperTechno for a dizzying push out of a

    window and back down to the officer

    atop the patrol car seen in the films first

    frame.

    Bckar shot Carousel in Super

    35mm. The Philips TV boasts a 2.33:1

    aspect ratio, and the filmmakers

    planned to use the extra space on the

    bottom and top of the frame to reposi-

    tion the shot if necessary. Bckar origi-

    nally wanted to shoot the spot in

    anamorphic, but he couldnt rationalize

    the economic and logistical tradeoffs.

    You need to stop down an anamorphic

    lens above T4 to make it sharp, and with

    this kind of setup, we couldnt do it, he

    explains. Instead, he maintained a T4

    and shot with two Cooke S4 prime

    lenses, a 21mm for interiors and a

    27mm for exteriors.

    He shot the commercial on Kodak

    Vision3 500T 5219, which he chose for

    its tremendous latitude and crisp

    detail, he says. It holds details below

    stop in a very good way. Also, it fit the

    look I wanted: theres a beautiful, pastel-

    like transition between the shadows and

    the mid-tones. The film went through

    two 1080p telecine transfers at The

    Moving Picture Co. in London under the

    supervision of senior colorist JeanClement Soret. The first transfer

    produced a flat, technical grade for the

    visual-effects team and to bend the

    shadows and highlights toward the

    desired look. The digital footage was

    then up-rezzed to 2K and printed back to

    film, then telecined at 1080p a second

    time. Bckar explains, By that time, we

    had all of the effects in there, and when

    we transferred it again, it helped blend

    the CG work with the live-action

    elements.Considering the effort that went

    into Carousel, Berg muses, We spent

    a lot of time on small things that a casual

    viewer might not notice, because we

    figured others would stop and look at it

    frame-by-frame to see how everything

    works together. It was a great challenge,

    but it was also a joy to make. I

    AlthoughCarousel

    appears to be onelong take, thespot actually

    comprises sevendifferent shots.

    Among thesetups, a dollying

    Scorpio cranewith a 3-axis

    manual headcaptured a robberpushing a SWAT

    officer over asecond-story

    ledge (above),and a Milo

    motion-control rigwas used to movethrough a hallway

    on the secondfloor (below).

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    18 August 2009

    ASC, BSC Celebrate

    Milestonesby Jon D. Witmer

    Its been 90 years since a group of

    15 cameramen transformed the Cinema

    Camera Club and the Static Club of

    America into the American Society of

    Cinematographers, and 60 years since 55

    British cameramen followed their lead

    and established the British Society of

    Cinematographers. The two milestones

    were recently celebrated by members of

    both societies during the Cine Gear Expoin Hollywood.

    The anniversary panel was

    moderated by George Spiro Dibie, ASC,

    and comprised ASC and BSC presidents

    Michael Goi and Sue Gibson, respec-

    tively; ASC members Richard Crudo,

    Allen Daviau, Guillermo Navarro, Daryn

    Okada, Owen Roizman and Nancy

    Schreiber; and BSC members John Daly,

    Joe Dunton, Phil Meheux, Nic Morris

    and Dick Pope.

    The discussion captured thesense that todays cinematographers are

    part of a tradition born with the cinema,

    and one that will continue for as long as

    audiences watch moving images. As Goi

    observed, the role of the cinematogra-

    pher is essentially no different now

    than it was in the 1900s, when cinema

    was starting; in 1927, when sound came

    into it; when two-strip and then three-

    strip Technicolor came in; and when

    widescreen formats came in. There has

    always been evolution and change in theindustry; thats a given. Weve always

    found ways to tell the stories we want to

    tell in the way we want to tell them in an

    evolving atmosphere.

    At the ASC and the BSC, we

    embrace that, Goi continued. We

    analyze [a new development] for what it

    is, and we research it and see where it

    might go. Our job is to keep track of it

    and inform producers about these tech-

    nologies and their capabilities. After

    agreeing, Pope added, The job remainsthe same as it was in silent-movie days:

    its telling the story in images. Thats the

    be-all and end-all of it. Whatever the

    technology is, thats the job: realizing

    the dream of the director, realizing his

    vision and putting 100 percent of

    your experience and skill into it.

    During the 90-minute panel, the

    audience asked the cinematographers

    questions covering an array of topics,

    including digital intermediates, 3-D

    movies, the future of 16mm film, collab-orating with visual-effects supervisors,

    and the societies responsibilities to

    future filmmakers. Addressing the latter

    topic, Goi said, Its something we all

    take very seriously. Its a responsibility

    to give back to the community, to

    encourage and educate the next gener-

    ation of cinematographers, and to

    preserve and honor our history which

    is really the history of world cinema.

    Transatlantic Allies and a Sci-Fi Serial

    Production Slate

    P h o t o s

    b y A l e x L o p e z

    Members of ajoint ASC/BSC

    paneldiscussion held

    during theCine Gear Expo

    gather aroundthe cakes

    celebrating thesocieties 90th

    and 60thanniversaries,

    respectively.From left:

    George Spiro

    Dibie, ASC;Daryn Okada,

    ASC; DickPope, BSC; Phil

    Meheux, BSC;ASC President

    Michael Goi;Nancy

    Schreiber, ASC;BSC President

    Sue Gibson;Nic Morris,BSC; Allen

    Daviau, ASC;Guillermo

    Navarro, ASC;

    Owen Roizman,ASC; John Daly,BSC; and JoeDunton, BSC.

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    Perhaps the biggest concern of

    the day was how cinematographers can

    protect the integrity of their images

    through digital post workflows and later

    repurposing for home viewing. Weve

    got to protect that imagery because its

    all that weve got as cameramen, said

    Meheux. What you need is a director

    behind you whos going to support you.Daviau agreed, noting, On the most

    successful collaborations Ive had, I was

    in total agreement from the beginning

    with the producer and the director.

    Were all in this together.

    We seem to be far more

    involved now in postproduction and

    workflows than we ever were, added

    Daly. We used to be talking about film

    stocks and cameras, and now its work-

    flows and raw data. You just have to

    keep reading up and communicatingwith each other. We cant afford to sit

    back.

    Many of the panelists also partic-

    ipated in the BSC-sponsored panel

    Preserving the Future of the Moving

    Image, which focused on the camera-

    assessment tests recently undertaken by

    the BSC; this discussion touched on the

    Camera-Assessment Series that was

    recently undertaken by the ASC and the

    Producers Guild of America (AC June

    09). I think it speaks to international

    concerns that the ASC and BSC virtu-

    ally simultaneously embarked on

    camera-assessment tests, noted Goi.

    Its going to be an interesting exchange

    of information. Ultimately, were doing

    all of this because its important for cine-

    matographers to maintain control of theimages we create and how we create

    them. Were in an atmosphere right now

    where networks or other factions are

    starting to dictate [the technology we

    use] to shoot, and that has always been

    the purview of the cinematographer. We

    make those decisions because we know

    what will be best for a particular project

    and most cost-efficient for the produc-

    ers.

    During the two-day expo, ASC

    members also participated in other

    panel discussions. Rodney Taylor, Shane

    Hurlbut and Okada sat down with ASC

    publicist Bob Fisher for A CreativeChoice: DI or Traditional Optical Timing;

    associate member Michael Bravin

    moderated Band Pro Presents SI-2K;

    Fisher returned to the stage for A

    Renaissance of the Techniscope

    Format before moderating a discussion

    American Cinematographe

    Left: Daly tathe microphto answer aquestion frocrowd. BeloDibie keepsaudience

    the panelistentertained

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    between Roizman and Tobias

    Schliessler, ASC, The Taking of Pelham1 2 3: Then and Now; Scott Farrar, ASC

    joined Visual-Effects Supervisors and

    Directors: How They Collaborate,

    moderated by Richard Edlund, ASC; Bill

    Roe, ASC and Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC

    dissected The Anatomy of a Television

    Pilot: Eastwick; and Steven Poster, ASC

    moderated Transitioning to the Future:

    The Role of the ICG.

    Several master classes were

    also held in conjunction with Cine Gear.

    Participating ASC members includedRon Dexter, who presented Cinematog-

    raphy Survival Skills You Can Learn on

    Your Own; Christopher Baffa, who

    presented Glee: From Ambitious Pilot

    to the Reality of an Episodic Series;

    Yuri Neyman, who presented 3cP and

    its Color and Workflow Management

    for Arri, Panasonic, Panavision, Red and

    Silicon Imaging Digital Cameras; and

    Michael Bonvillain, who participated in

    a lighting workshop.

    Before ending the ASC-BSCanniversary panel, Gibson took the

    microphone to express her gratitude:

    Thank you very much to the ASC and to

    George Spiro Dibie for inviting us all

    over here and making this such an

    enjoyable occasion. Members of both

    societies then gathered outdoors to

    enjoy an anniversary cake. Gibson told

    AC, I became a member [of the BSC] in

    1992 I was given my BSC certificate

    by Freddie Young, one of the founding

    members and its a great honor thatI should be here as the first woman

    member of the BSC, and now president.

    Theres 150 years of experience

    in cinematography between the two

    societies, she noted, and both are still

    going strong and delivering on what

    they set out to do, which is to make the

    highest standards in cinematography

    and further the art of filmmaking.

    Goi and Gibson smile for the cameras before digging into the cakes.

    20

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    An Outer-Space Adventure

    by Iain Stasukevich

    Billed as a film for screens of all

    sizes, Stingray Samwas born of musi-

    cian/filmmaker Cory McAbees involve-

    ment with the Sundance Institutes

    Global Short Film Project, which encour-

    ages filmmakers to produce content formobile distribution. For his second

    feature (following the 2001 musical The

    American Astronaut), he began thinking

    about a multi-platform release. The

    model lends itself well to an episodic

    format, so McAbee decided to break

    Stingray Sam into six 10-minute

    vignettes that can be viewed individu-

    ally or as a whole. The sections work

    together as a consistent unit, but eachepisode still needs its own beginning,

    middle and end, and has its own

    philosophies and technologies.

    Stingray Sam is the tale of two

    space convicts, lounge singer Stingray

    Sam (played by McAbee) and perennial

    scoundrel The Quasar Kid (Crugie), who

    must earn their freedom by rescuing a

    little girl (Willa Vy) from a sinister, genet-

    ically engineered aristocrat named Fred-ward. Some singing and dancing are

    involved, but McAbee wanted Stingray

    Samto stand apart from The American

    Astronaut, so he turned to the singing

    cowboy stars and Flash Gordonserials

    of the 1930s and 1940s for inspiration. I

    wanted to make a project that embraced

    American culture but also criticized

    certain elements of it, such as privatized

    prison systems, pharmaceuticals and

    the depletion of natural resources, says

    the director.Cinematographer Scott Miller

    was brought aboard by producer Becky

    Glupczynski, who had worked with him

    on Maria Full of Grace. (On that film,

    Miller was the gaffer for cinematogra-

    pher Jim Denault.) It was October 2008,

    andStingray Samhad been accepted

    sight unseen into the 2009 Sundance

    Film Festival, which gave Miller just over

    a week of prep for the 18-day shoot.

    22 August 2009

    Right: StingraySam (CoryMcAbee)

    entertains thestaff of a fertility

    clinic with asong and dance.Below: The evil

    Fredward(Joshua Taylor)

    tries to thwartSams rescue of

    a little girl(Willa Vy, left).

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    Above: Collagesdesigned by

    John Borrusobookend

    Stingray Sam.Here, Fredwardstands betweenthe police and

    his tuxedoedcronies insidehis secret lair.

    Below:Cinematographer

    Scott Miller (onladder) finds

    Sams frame afterthe intergalactic

    lounge singercrash-lands in

    the desert.

    Schedule and budget considerations led

    the filmmakers to shoot digitally

    instead of on film. (A short sequence

    was shot in Super 8mm using Kodak

    Tri-X Reversal and Pro8mms Max8

    Classic.) After considering Arris D-20

    and Reds One, they decided a simpler

    post workflow would be the best route

    to take. We tested the Sony EX3 and

    the Panasonic HPX3000, and with the

    Panasonic we noticed a more fluid

    capture of motion, especially with any

    kind of pans from left to right, saysMiller. The AVC-Intra 100 codec also

    seemed to handle contrast fairly well;

    knowing we would be shooting outside,

    I wanted that extra image control.

    The filmmakers main challenge

    was figuring out how to shoot a piece

    that would retain its effectiveness on a

    mobile-phone screen as well as a

    movie-theater screen. One idea was to

    limit extraneous camera movement;

    looking at the old serials, they noticed

    frequent wide, medium and three-

    quarter compositions and decided to

    incorporate them into Stingray Sam. In

    keeping with the classic serials, they

    composed their shots for a 1.33:1

    frame and decided to finish in high-

    contrast black-and-white. Having theopportunity to work with an aspect

    ratio the industry has left behind was a

    real treat, says Miller.

    Except for The Quasar Kids tin-

    can spaceship, a set that was built in a

    recording studio, the picture was shot

    on location. To maintain the shallow

    depth of field needed to keep viewers

    attention on the characters, the actors

    were kept close to the camera, and

    Miller used a P+S Technik adapter with

    16mm and 40mm Zeiss lenses open at

    T2.8 or T2.8/4.

    Each episode takes place in a

    different alien world. The settings

    include a seedy Martian bar, an indus-

    trial male-fertility clinic, and a planet

    that bears a striking resemblance to

    Brooklyn. Miller worked with produc-

    tion designer Molly Page to create the

    interstellar settings in New York City

    locations. We decorated walls with

    interesting and bizarre patterns, and

    kept signage and other recognizable

    things out of the frame, says Page.

    The fertility clinic is an example

    of a location with a built-in look. Shot

    in the hallway of a public high school

    and the basement of a church, the

    scenes are meant to feel sterile and

    cold. That episode has a lot of white

    on white, notes Miller. [Wardrobe

    designer] Stephani Lewis had created a

    lot of white costumes, and we were in

    a space that was meant to look simple

    and higher-key. We also lit it a bit

    brighter and timed it a bit brighter than

    some of the other episodes.In the high-school hallway,

    Miller placed 1.2K Arri Pars at the end

    of the corridor to create a sheen along

    the floor and walls, and filled in shadow

    areas with 2'x4' tungsten Kino Flos. The

    scene in which Stingray Sam regales a

    large gathering of the clinics faculty

    with a song-and-dance number was

    shot in a church basement. The ceiling

    was too low to facilitate lighting from

    above, so Very Narrow Spot Pars and

    Source Four Pars were aimed into silverreflectors affixed to the ceiling. Miller

    filled in the scientists with roving tung-

    sten Kino Flos and by bouncing light off

    two 8'x8' Ultrabounce frames.

    Despite its high-key lighting and

    stark production design, the image

    rarely clips in the highlights and

    exhibits remarkable detail in the

    midtones and shadows. If I could keep

    the image just below the 90 to 95

    24 August 2009

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    26 August 2009

    percent IRE range, the picture seemed

    to hold together 5 or 6 stops of latitude

    below that. Another thing that seemed

    to work was shooting with a soft, direc-

    tional contrast, knowing that more

    contrast would be added later in post; I

    tried to keep the shadows about 3

    stops under key, knowing we could take

    that to black later.

    Fredwards secret lair is the

    visual opposite of the fertility clinic.

    Working in the wood-paneled confer-

    ence room at Manhattans Gershwin

    Hotel, Miller had to light a dark location

    against bright costumes and light skin

    tones the pasty-faced Fredward and

    his tuxedoed cronies are clad in white,

    while The Quasar Kid wears a skintight,sequined jumpsuit. Gaffer Cait Davis

    and key grip August Popkin rigged eight

    36" China balls with 500-watt tungsten

    bulbs, creating an even toplight that

    would allow the actors to move around

    freely. The dark walls acted as negative

    fill, while the action was separated from

    the background using daylight-balanced

    Kino Flos and Source Four Pars bounced

    off soft silver reflectors.

    Our heroes part company after

    they rescue the girl, and Stingraydecides to return her to her father. After

    crash-landing in the middle of a desert,

    Stingray and the girl find themselves on

    the wrong end of Fredwards anti-matter

    pistol. The production found a stretch of

    beach on Long Island with enough open

    space to stage the standoff, and Miller

    set all of his shots above the actors

    eyelines to mask incongruous terrain. It

    solved the problem of seeing anything

    we werent supposed to see, and it also

    reduced the background to the texture of

    the sand, he recalls. The low winter

    sun was used to frontlight the actors,

    and tungsten Pars were used to fill in

    the shadows when necessary.

    The scene gave Miller one of the

    most striking compositions in the series:

    a long, wide shot of the beach set

    against a dark sky, with a line of sand at

    the bottom of the frame to hide the

    ocean. Fredward and the girl are on one

    side of the frame, and Stingray is on the

    other. At first glance, the background

    seems otherworldly enough to be a

    painted backing, but it was a real sky!

    says Miller.

    I used an old 85mm Zeiss lensfor that shot, he continues. When

    youre recording to video with a long

    lens on a small chip, and there are only

    two planes of focus to a shot the

    actors and the sky the P+S Technik

    adapter gives you a greater sense of

    compression. If there had been a third

    element between the two of them, it

    wouldnt have looked as good.

    The combination of gentler

    lenses and the adapter created a thick

    bokeh around the edge of the glass andadded halation to the hot spots, enhanc-

    ing the older film look Miller and

    McAbee sought. Miller also used

    Schneider Double Fog filters (18 for

    close-ups and 14 for wider shots) to

    accentuate the ethereal quality. He took

    a similar approach to photographing the

    rest of that world Brooklyns Green-

    point neighborhood using 85mm and

    135mm lenses to compress locations

    into paintings and backdrops.

    The filmmakers did manage to

    work in some practical 2-D elements.

    The film is bookended by Terry Gilliam-

    style collages that were designed by

    West Coast artist John Borruso. Though

    McAbee originally intended to integrate

    them into the movie, he eventually

    decided they didnt fit the design of the

    rest of the picture. Glupczynski had

    another idea. Miller explains: The P+S

    Technik adapters oscillating ground

    glass adds an organic texture to the

    video image, and we decided to use the

    HPX3000 with a zoom controller and a

    dolly to photograph each collage. The

    human control seemed to bridge the gap

    and create a cohesion between the two

    worlds.

    Stingray Sam was onlined at

    Final Frame in New York, with colorist

    Will Cox at the Nucoda Film Master.

    Because the final image would be black-

    and-white, Miller used mixed color

    temperatures for his separators and fill

    lights throughout production. By putting

    them on a different color channel in

    post, he was able to better isolate and

    adjust them.

    Stingray Samwas completed in

    time for Sundance, where it was

    projected digitally. McAbee would like

    to see the film get a multi-platformrelease, but for now, he is hand-deliver-

    ing the HD master to every festival

    screening. I just hope people have a

    chance to see this movie, says Miller.

    Whether they see 61 minutes or 10

    minutes, theyll feel its a complete, fully

    realized world. All of our decisions were

    geared toward keeping the audience

    within the small universe Cory created.

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    McAbee, whodirected Stingray

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    checks theframe.

  • 7/29/2019 AC aug 2009

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    Clairmont Raises The Bar!Cinematographer Salvatore Totino, ASC, explains why he

    feels Clairmont Camera raises the bar in every aspect.

    The quality of Clairmonts equipment, their service, their

    reliability and their willingness to go above and beyond the

    call of duty is by far the best in the industry. Their standard

    level of quality, their attention to details and the

    improvements and enhancements they make to their gear i

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    What I really like about Clairmont is that they get excite

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    28 August 2009

    It is often said that the mostimportant person on any film

    set is the catering chef finecuisine doesnt guarantee an

    easy shoot, but it goes a long waytoward improving the crews mood.

    OnJulie & Julia, the crew dined ondelicacies that included boeuf bour-

    guignon, pate de canard en crouteand lobster thermidor, and that was

    before breaking for lunch. Perhapsnot since Babettes Feast has food

    played such an important role in afilm. On most movies, you might

    use a special filter to shoot close-ups

    of the actresses, notes StephenGoldblatt, ASC, BSC, but on this

    one, food became the real beautyshot.

    Based on real people andevents,Julie & Julia tells the parallel

    stories of two women who lived 50years apart but shared a passion for

    cooking: Julia Child (Meryl Streep)and Julie Powell (Amy Adams). In

    1951, Child was living in Paris,where her husband, Paul (Stanley

    Tucci), a career diplomat, had beenassigned after the war. With little to

    occupy her, she decided to take aclass at the Cordon Bleu Cooking

    School. In 2001, in the wake of theterrorist attacks on the United

    States, New Yorker Powell wassearching for an activity that might

    lift her spirits. She decided to make

    every recipe in Childs landmarkcookbook, Mastering the Art ofFrench Cooking, and document herefforts online. Her daily blog

    became so popular that it wasturned into a book, which served as

    Julie & Julia, shot by Stephen Goldblatt, ASC,BSC, illustrates how the legendary Julia Child

    impacted the life of an acolyte.

    by Jean Oppenheimer

    Unit photography by Jonathan Wenk

    Fellow

    Foodies

  • 7/29/2019 AC aug 2009

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    American Cinematographer

    the basis for the film.

    Directed by Nora Ephron,

    Julie & Julia jumps back and forth

    between the two womens stories,documenting not only their culinary

    endeavors but also their relation-

    ships with their respective husbands.We shot the Julie story first, and

    only after we completed it did westart shooting the Julia story, says

    Goldblatt. He wanted each sectionto have its own mood and look,

    which he describes as harshAmerican sunlight and bold,

    contrasty colors for Julies life inQueens, and pastel tones and a soft,

    overcast light for Julias life in Paris.The cinematographer a-

    chieved both looks with the samefilm stocks, using Kodak Vision3

    500T 5219 (rated at EI 320) for allinteriors and Vision2 250D 5205

    and 50D 5201 for exteriors. For theParis sequences, he added a light

    Tiffen Black ProMist (14 or 18) to thelens to give a little glow to the light

    and flatten things out a bit, he says.

    I like shooting at T2.8, andtodays stocks make that easy to

    achieve, continues Goldblatt. Myfavorite stock at the moment is 5219;

    it has an extraordinary ability to diginto shadows and highlights, and it

    takes the digital intermediate sobeautifully.

    With the exception of a smallamount of Paris footage that was

    processed at Deluxe London, all ofthe productions footage was

    processed at Technicolor New York,where Goldblatt has a long-standing

    relationship with Joey Violante andMartin Zeichner, who timed select

    print and high-definition dailies,respectively. (Julie & Julia was shot

    in Super 1.85:1, and the first fewweeks of dailies were printed.)

    Technicolor provided us with a

    beautiful HD projector, notesGoldblatt. Nora and I would watch

    projected dailies at lunchtime on a12-foot-wide screen.

    Camera equipment wasprovided by Panavision, a team

    effort involving Phil Radin inWoodland Hills, Calif., and Scott

    Fleischer and Gail Savarese in NewYork. The productions package

    comprised two Panaflex Platinums,a Lightweight for Steadicam work,

    Primo prime lenses, a low-angleprism and four zooms (Primo 4:1,

    11:1, 3:1 and Macro). Im not ascrazed about lenses as I used to be

    because we can make such radicalchanges in the DI, says Goldblatt.

    Certainly, the lenses need to besharp, not too contrasty, and

    comfortable for the assistants, but I

    dont see such a vast differencenowadays between Primos and

    Cookes. Production design, lightingand wardrobe have far more effect

    on the final image than the subtledifferences between very good

    Opposite:Blogger-

    turned-chefJulie Powel(Amy Adamspays homagher idol, JulChild (MerylStreep), whi

    visiting anexhibition inChilds honoThis page, toThe boisteroChild whipsa dish. BottoStephenGoldblatt, ABSC meters leading ladywhile co-staStanley Tucc(portrayingChildshusband, Pa

    contemplatelunch.

    Photoscourtesy

    ofSony

    Pictures.

  • 7/29/2019 AC aug 2009

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    Right: Asqueamish

    Powell preparesto boil her firstlobster. Below:

    Powellshusband, Eric

    (Chris Messina),samples some

    chocolatefrosting. The

    couples smallkitchen was part

    of an apartmentset built onstage

    at SilvercupStudios in New

    York. It waslike a closet!

    recallsGoldblatt. We

    tore every singlewall out again

    and again just toget our

    coverage.

    30 August 2009

    lenses. Those differences were muchmore of an issue in the days beforethe DI.

    The Paris and Queens apart-

    ment interiors were built onstage at

    Silvercup Studios in New York.Childs residence, which wasmodeled on her real home, is L-shaped and spacious and boasts

    large, leaded-glass windows. Every

    wall in the set was wild, and all ofthe windows were specially builtwith real leaded glass. In additionto looking more authentic than any

    kind of substitution, the leaded glasshelps diffuse what we see outsidethe windows, notes productiondesigner Mark Ricker. For winterscenes, we dabbed a kind of waxmixture onto the glass to give it afrosted look.

    Two sides of the set includedexterior faades. Dolly shots madefrom an elevated platform couldtrack past several sections of faadewhile following the actors from

    room to room. That helped give realdimension to the set, observes 1stAC Larry Huston. Gaffer Gene Engelwas responsible for conjuring thesoft light Goldblatt wanted for theParis scenes on the New York stage.We probably had 900 units operat-ing on that set, and they were all on adimmer system, right down to theoutlets in the walls, says Engels.

    Two layers of bleached

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    muslin covered every ceiling, and

    20Ks were suspended at different

    angles above them to create direc-tional light. For keylight, 5Ks and

    other Fresnel lights were set to rakeacross a 12'x25' frame of rippled

    bleached muslin. Raking the lightacross rippled muslin is what

    produces that soft, shadowlesseffect, explains Engel. A camera

    can dolly to within 2 feet of an actorwithout the operator or assistant

    casting a shadow, and two actors canstand 6 or 8 inches apart and cast no

    shadows as they talk. Rippledmuslin also takes every wrinkle out

    of every face; it makes actors lookgood, and it makes the set look

    good.I never bounce off anything

    flat, adds the gaffer. Sometimes Idthrow a 10-by-10 rag on the floor,

    kick it into a bunch and bounce into

    that.Goldblatts crew often had to

    pull walls to facilitate the best light-ing for the actors. For shots of Streep

    in Childs 10'x12' kitchen, for exam-ple, a wall would come down and a

    12'x25' frame of rippled bleached

    muslin would go up, with a 5 or 10K

    gelled with 18 or straw behind it.It looks as if the light is coming

    from a window, says Goldblatt.One concern was how to

    make Streep appear as tall as Child,who was 6'2". The actress wore plat-

    form shoes in every scene in which

    her feet werent visible. When stand-

    ing still, she stood on apple boxes

    or pancakes. When she had to walkalongside another character, she

    walked on 4"-high walkways thatsnaked through the sets. Even when

    seated, Streep was elevated shealways sat on a pillow. To help sell

    the illusion, we often filmed Meryl

    American Cinematographer

    The Childscelebrate lifa stylish Frebistro, whicwas actuallrestaurant inNew York.Goldblatt sa

    the location

    mirrored wanearly drovme crazy, bgaffer GeneEngel provida solution: had to bank lights off tw

    three mirroravoid seeing

    the light andcamerashadows. Thlook of thescene wasreally made

    the Linestratubes; Irevamped thand made

    them intoincandesceso they coulbe dimmed.Thats why tscene has awarm look.

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    32 August 2009

    from a slightly lower angle than

    might have been entirely flattering,but she encouraged it, says

    Goldblatt. Julia Child was not asmall woman, and Meryl wanted to

    be true to that. When we wanted her

    to look her best, we raised thecamera.

    Whereas Childs apartment isroomy, the studio apartment where

    Powell lives is a modest 43'x19'. Thekitchen is 6'8"x6'3" tight quarters

    in which to cook, much less toshoot. It was like a closet! recalls

    Goldblatt. We tore every single wallout again and again just to get our

    coverage. On a 27mm lens, with onewall taken out and [the camera]

    back a couple of feet, we could justget everything into frame. After a

    pause, he laughs, Actually, at timesit was rather a challenge to keep the

    small space from looking biggerthan it was.

    Outside the kitchens solewindow were three 5Ks shooting up

    at beadboards or rippled muslin. For

    the rest of the apartment, 5Ks and10Ks were aimed through windows,

    replicating harsh sunlight.Ceilings of the Queens set

    comprised bleached muslin, withlights positioned above them. Two

    small skylights, never seen oncamera, serve as additional light

    sources. Smaller and darker than theChilds apartment, the Powells

    home relied more heavily on practi-cals.

    A 50' Technocrane with aScorpio Head was used for perhaps

    the most ambitious setup: a night-exterior shot in Queens that starts

    extremely wide on Powells buildingand ends with a close-up of her at

    her computer, seen through asecond-floor window. This is the

    only shot of Powells apartment that

    was filmed on location. To helpdefine the Con-Edison power

    station visible in the distance in thewide view, eight 12K Pars were

    grouped together on the groundabout of a mile away. To light the

    Innovations Spice UpJulie & Julias DI

    Kodaks high-contrast Vision

    Premier print stock would seemto be an unlikely choice for a film

    such as Julie & Julia. As Steven J.Scott, EFilms supervising digital

    colorist, notes, When youre trying

    to make the leading ladies look assoft and beautiful as possible,

    Premier isnt the first stock thatcomes to mind, as its stronger blacks

    and saturated colors can result in aharsher, less flattering look.

    So why Premier? Becausethe filmmakers believed everything

    around the actors includingcolorful Paris bistros, stylish period

    dress and dcor, and, perhaps mostimportantly, the food was best

    served by Premiers vibrant colorand strong blacks.

    However, Kodaks stan-dard Vision promised a gentler look

    and smoother skin tones. Directorof photography Stephen Goldblatt,

    ASC, BSC wanted the best of bothworlds, and in the end, he got it,

    thanks to a digital filter developed by

    Scott, his longtime collaborator inthe digital-intermediate suite. With

    our software and proprietary filter,we could tap the advantages of each

    stock wherever we wanted, saysScott.

    Scott had been tinkeringwith the idea for some time, and

    Julie & Julia seemed the perfect filmon which to try out the new tool.

    After testing both print stocks, thefilmmakers decided to print on

    Premier using the new DI filter.During the digital grade, Scott and

    Goldblatt used EFilms proprietaryPremier Deluxe look-up table and

    added Scotts new filter, whichallowed them to selectively emulate

    some of Visions characteristics, eventhough they were printing on

    Premier.

    As an example, Scottpoints to a scene in which Julia

    Child (Meryl Streep) and herhusband (Stanley Tucci) sit in a

    corner booth in a French bistro.Stephen wanted the rich, saturated

    colors of the dcor and the deep color

    of Meryls dress to come through, buthe also wanted Meryl and Stanleys

    skin tones to be soft and luminous.With this filter, we were able to get

    both. The scene has an almost three-

    strip Technicolor look. (The resultswere so impressive that Scott used the

    filter again on the next picture hegraded, Night at the Museum 2,

    whose entire Imax run was printedon Premier.)

    Goldblatt was also pleasedwith something else Scott worked

    out forJulie & Julias DI, a sunshineeffect. The production spent its last

    two weeks in Paris, shooting exteri-ors, and I prayed to the gods of

    weather that we would have thedull, overcast skies that are so

    wonderful for actors close-ups,recalls Goldblatt. The gods listened

    to me, but I found that the wideshots, the architectural shots, needed

    some bite, and dull light didnt give itto them.

    The first use of the digital

    sunshine effect can be seen right afterthe opening credits. The Childs arrive

    at their new Paris residence in apowder-blue American sedan that

    rounds a corner and pulls up to thefront gate; the camera starts low and

    wide on a crane at street level andtracks out as the arm booms up.

    Goldblatt wanted subtle streaks ofsunlight to grace the buildings in the

    wide shot, and he wanted shafts oflight hitting the walls of the house as

    Julia enters the courtyard. But on theday of filming, there was no hard

    sunlight. Scott solved the problem bycreating a series of articulated mattes

    that moved through the scene. Youdthink it was real sunlight, says

    Goldblatt, but it was a matte doneon the fly during the DI.

    Jean Oppenheimer

    Fellow Foodies

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    exterior of the apartment building,

    20Ks with apricot gels raked the wallsthrough 12'x12' frames of rippled

    bleached muslin. The Technocranewas parked across the street on a 25'

    dolly track.The shot starts wide, with the

    4:1 zoom set at 21mm. As the cranedollies forward, the telescoping arm is

    extended and raised; at the sametime, the lens zooms in. The shot

    ends with the camera 25' above theground and the focal length at

    75mm. 1st AC Huston had his workcut out for him. Focus was about 7

    feet and was accomplished by attach-ing a laser to the remote head to mark

    the cameras position, he says. I cali-brated the relationship between the

    laser marks on the street and Amysfocus upstairs by running back and

    forth between the street and the

    second floor, taking measurements. Iused a wireless video attached to my

    Preston radio focus control to see thecomposition.

    It takes 25 seconds for thecamera to reach the window through

    which Powell is seen. Apart from the

    practical desk lamp next to her, theinterior is lit with Linestra tubes. (A

    Chimera pancake was mounted tothe camera and dialed up as the

    camera got closer to Adams).Goldblatt is pleased with the result:

    Its a beautiful shot because thereare no cuts, and it really is Queens.

    A later shot of Powell through

    the same window was filmed on thesoundstage. She is again typing at

    her desk, and we again see herthrough the glass, but this time the

    window is reflecting the lights andbuildings of Manhattan mini

    cutouts placed just behind thecamera to reflect in the glass. Its a

    American Cinematographer

    Left: In one oGoldblattsfavorite scenChild takes acooking couat the CordoBleu CookinSchool, wheshe towers o

    her maleclassmates. scene was son set atSilvercup, wGoldblatt tooadvantage ocustom-builtlight built bygaffer Engel.Because throom is whitnaturally fillitself in, andonly neededbig light sou

    notes GoldblI loved whacould do witbounce light

    that set. BeThroughoutproduction, tcrew came uwith a varietways to giveStreep a lift her portraya

    the 6'2" chef

    BottomphotobyMarkRicker.

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    34 August 2009

    way to trick the eye into believing its

    a real location, says Goldblatt. Wedid a combination track and zoom

    into Amy, and the reflections givethe shot a real sense of place.

    In one of Goldblatts favoritescenes, Child attends her first class at

    the Cordon Bleu Cooking School.

    She is the sole female standing in arow of male students, and she

    towers over them all. The set, built atSilvercup, was based on photos of

    the real location. The room is almostcompletely white, with shiny tile on

    the walls. Because the room iswhite, it naturally fills itself in, and

    we only needed one big lightsource, notes Goldblatt. I loved

    what I could do with bounce light inthat set. Engel custom-built a 6'x6'

    bay light comprising 12 2K nooksgoing through rippled muslin. We

    could actually dial in which sectionwe wanted to use with our dimmer

    system, says the gaffer. We made italmost the size of the room and then

    just teased it off the walls so it had anice down look without giving the

    actors raccoon shadows. We never

    used a light directly over the actors.The production moved to

    Paris for the final two weeks of theshoot, and most of the movies exte-

    riors were filmed there. One excep-tion was a train station thats

    Fellow Foodies

    Above, left andright: A 50'

    Technocranewas used to

    capture anambitious night-

    exterior shot thatpushes in toward

    Powellsapartment

    window until wesee her typing ather desk; a later

    shot of Powellseen through the

    same windowwas filmed

    onstage, wheremini cutouts

    were used tocreate

    reflections of theManhattan

    skyline. Middleand bottom:

    Lights deployedon a rooftop

    helped thefilmmakers

    capture a scenein which Powellserves up a feast

    for her friends.

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    supposed to be in Paris; the film-

    makers originally planned to shootat La Gare du Nord in Paris, but the

    train station in Hoboken, N.J.,whose architecture was strongly

    influenced by the Beaux Art move-

    ment, proved to be ideal andmuch less expensive. With its deco-

    rative molding, the shape of itswindows and its iron staircases, the

    Hoboken station gave us the feel of aFrench train station, says Ricker. (A

    different section of the station wasused for a scene set at a Boston

    terminal.)All interior scenes set in

    France were filmed in New York.One of the useful things about New

    York is that so much of its classicarchitecture is French, says

    Goldblatt. Finding rooms andbuildings that could pass for Paris

    locations proved remarkably easy,but one location proved particularly

    challenging: a restaurant with

    mirrored walls where Child dines

    with her husband. That scenenearly drove me crazy, recalls

    Goldblatt. We couldnt light Meryland Stanley directly; we had to aim

    light at a mirror and bounce it onto

    them. Just getting the camera inposition so we could photograph

    the actors without seeing ourselveswas a nightmare. I honestly cant

    imagine doing a shot like that with-out Gene Engel.

    It was like playing pool, saysEngel. We had to bank the lights off

    two or three mirrors to avoid seeingthe light and camera shadows. The

    look of the scene was really made bythe Linestra tubes; I revamped them

    and made them into incandescentsso they could be dimmed. Thats

    why the scene has a warm look.With a laugh, he adds, During the

    shot, most of the crew were lying onthe floor to avoid being reflected in

    the mirrors.

    Fellow Foodies

    6

    Goldblatt positions a finely cooked fowl forits close-up.

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    Another sequence that pleases

    Goldblatt shows Childs sister (JaneLynch) getting married in a large,

    outdoor pavilion. Ricker stumbledupon the location in Brooklyn. In

    the center of the roof was a nice,

    round opening, almost like askylight, recalls Goldblatt. You

    couldnt see it on camera, but itprovided a perfect spot to hang a

    spherical helium balloon and lowera remote head to get shots of people

    dancing below. The scene tookplace during the day, and Goldblatt

    switched to the 50-ASA stock. Ten18Ks going through 20' x 40' frames

    of quarter grid cloth were placed onthe lawn close to the pavilion. As

    daylight faded, straw gels were addedto the lamps.

    Finally, what would a filmabout gourmets be without shots of

    sumptuous-looking food? Goldblatt,who shot quite a few food commer-

    cials when he was starting out in the

    business, wanted to handle the food

    photography himself rather thanturn it over to a second unit. (One

    food shot in the final cut was madeby 2nd-unit cinematographer David

    Dunlap, whom Goldblatt also credits

    with making a couple of spectacularManhattan cityscapes for which I am

    grateful.) There is nothing mysteri-ous about shooting food except the

    desire to do it, Goldblatt noteswryly. Its really just still photogra-

    phy. Of course, the real key is havinga brilliant chef and food stylist. He

    made the beauty shots with an 11:1zoom usually used at a fixed focal

    length and upped the exposure toT5.6 to get a bit more depth of field.

    A single light was usually sufficientto illuminate the subject. Typically,

    an electrician held a pancake lightover the table at a variety of angles,

    and Goldblatt would look throughthe lens to determine the right angle.

    The size of the bulb varied, ranging

    from 50-2,000 watts.

    These were some of the mostpleasurable days of the shoot. After

    we photographed the food, saysGoldblatt, we ate it. I

    TECHNICAL SPECS

    Super 1.85:1(Super 35mm for 1.85:1 extraction)

    Panaflex Platinum, Lightweight

    Primo lenses

    Kodak Vision3 500T 5219;Vision2 50D 5201, 250D 5205

    Digital Intermediate

    Printed on KodakVision Premier 2393

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    38 August 2009

    When director LouiePsihoyos decided to bring

    Colorado-based cine-matographer Brook Aitken

    aboard The Cove as thedirector of photography, he weighed

    Aitkens agility and athleticism ascarefully as he did his technical

    expertise. We needed people whowere like pirates because we were

    essentially breaking and entering,says Psihoyos.

    The target was a heavily

    guarded cove in Taiji, Japan, wherelocal fishermen slaughter an esti-

    mated 2,300 dolphins every year aspart of an effort to locate bottlenose

    females, which are in demand atmarine parks around the world.

    After luring scores of dolphins awayfrom their migratory path, the fish-

    ermen herd the creatures into thecove; separate out the bottlenose

    females; and spear the rest of theanimals to death and sell the meat,

    which contains toxic levels of mer-cury. Led by Richard OBarry, who

    trained dolphins for TVs Flipperinthe 1960s, conservationists have

    attempted to stop the slaughter, butso far they have failed.

    Psihoyos, a top NationalGeographic photographer, co-founded the Oceanic Preservation

    Society (based in Boulder, Colo.)with Jim Clark, the venture capitalist

    behind Silicon Graphics andNetscape. The Cove is an OPS proj-

    ect, and as mission-driven docu-mentaries go, it was lacking neither

    funds nor talent. To make the movie,which took close to three years,

    Psihoyos assembled what he calledan Oceans 11 team; in addition to

    OBarry, his collaborators includedan electronics wiz who customized

    some of the cameras; expert mold-makers who created camera hous-

    ings that could pass for native rocks;two champion free-divers who

    placed cameras and hydrophones

    underwater at night; and Aitken,who had to ensure that everyone

    understood the essentials of cameraoperation because everyone was

    shooting.Traditional roles went outthe window pretty quickly, Aitken

    Filmmakers, activists and other experts join forces on The Cove, adocumentary that exposes the brutal killing of dolphins in Taiji, Japan

    by Patricia Thomson

    Exposinga

    Secret Slaughter

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    acknowledges.

    Every member of the teamhad to be somebody who wasnt

    afraid to hang off a cliff, sleep outsidein a camouflaged spot, and eat nuts

    and berries, notes Aitken. As the

    director of photography, he also hadto be able to shoot run-and-gun

    while composing impeccablyframed shots under Psihoyos super-

    vision. Louie has a very particulareye, and wed spend hours, days and

    weeks shooting certain shots or timelapses, says Aitken. I learned a lot

    from him about how to make everysingle pixel count.

    The projects main format washigh-definition video. We wanted

    to get as high a resolution as possibleand have media that was easy to

    store, review and duplicate, saysAitken. The production purchased

    four Sony PDW-F350L cameras,which use Sony Professional Discs

    with blue-laser technology; at 23GB,each reusable, single-layer disc can

    hold 60 minutes of HD-quality

    imagery. The package also includedthermal-imaging cameras, night-

    vision cameras, a remote-controlledmini-helicopter cam, and a remote-

    controlled camera mounted to ablimp that was painted to look like a

    dolphin.

    The Covebegins by providing

    some background on dolphins,OBarry and Taiji, a fishing village of

    3,000 that boasts a whale museumand dolphinarium just yards from

    the killing cove. This section of themovie features underwater footage

    of dolphins shot by free-divers KirkKrack and Mandy-Rae Cruickshank.

    Psihoyos notes that successfulunderwater photography requires

    clear water, good light and arebreather, a closed breathing system

    that regulates the amount of oxygen

    and scrubs out carbon dioxide. Itspurpose is to prevent bubbles, and

    for photographers, thats good forboth keeping the frame clean and

    not disturbing the animals. Whalesand dolphins consider bubbles a sign

    American Cinematographe

    Opposite: Wchampion frdiver MandCruickshanwhose skillinclude theability to hoher breath fover six minwas a keymember of t

    team behindCove.

    This page, tCinematogrBrook Aitkesets up a shlocation inJapan. BottThis angle ocove showsgreen tarpsare unrolledhelp hide thkilling.

    Photosandframegrabscourtesyofthe

    OceanicPreservationSocietyandRoadsideAttractions.

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    40 August 2009

    Exposing a Secret Slaughter

    of aggression you never want to

    be around a big whale thats blowinga lot of bubbles, notes the director.

    The rebreather is not for beginners,however. Its super-dangerous, says

    Aitken. There are computers that

    calculate the levels, but you can killyourself if you dont know what

    youre doing.When filming dolphins,

    mobility is key. They get bored real-ly quickly, and if you cant keep up or

    entertain them, they take off, saysPsihoyos. And you cant chase an

    animal that just swam down fromGreenland! To stay lightweight, the

    filmmakers worked with SonysHVR-A1U HDV camera, which

    weighs 3 pounds. If you shoot witha rebreather and carry a Sony F900,

    you probably have about 110pounds of gear, says Psihoyos. Its

    like trying to push a Volkswagonthrough the water!

    Also featured in The Covesfirst section is time-lapse photogra-

    phy of Japanese fish markets, includ-

    ing Tsukiji, the worlds largest. Thisfootage, which shows the unimagin-

    able volume of fish caught and soldevery day, was shot with Psihoyos

    Canon EOS-5D Mark II digital SLR;the camera was mounted on a plate

    Top: Once in thecove, dolphins

    who arentdeemed

    desirable formarine parks

    are stabbed todeath. Middle:Fishermen use

    an array oftricks to divert

    dolphins fromtheir migratory

    path, whichhews to Japans

    coastline, andherd them into

    the cove.Bottom: Local

    police postbogus danger

    signs to keepunwanted

    spectators awayfrom the area.

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    attached to a small motion head

    that was programmed to rotate overa set period of time. Unfortunately,

    that had to be hooked up to a laptopand hard drive, because it was cap-

    turing so much information we

    couldnt store it all on memorycards, recalls Aitken.

    Time-lapse shots of the Taijifish market, Tokyos famous

    Shibuya Crossing and various land-scapes were captured with the

    F350L. That camera was nice fortime lapse, because with Blu-ray, I

    could shoot 1 fps and go for morethan 24 hours straight, notes the

    cinematographer. We had to justlet the exposure go and auto-com-

    pensate, but it worked out well,given the circumstances. One

    unanticipated advantage to thetime-lapse work is that it gave the

    filmmakers a convincing alibi whenthey were stopped by local police,

    who constantly tailed them. If peo-ple were curious about what we

    were doing out in the middle of the

    night, wed say we were going tolook at our cameras in the fish mar-

    ket, says Aitken.

    The Covealso documents the

    covert operation that was necessaryto record the dolphin slaughter. The

    team planted gear in the cove seventimes, going in one night to place it,

    and retrieving it the next. Night-vision and thermal-imaging cam-

    eras were critical to this phase.Night vision was done with the

    A1U, set in its Night Shot mode.Aitken explains, Theres an

    infrared light built into the camera,but we supplemented that with a

    hot-shoe-mounted infrared light [aSony HVL-Irm Battery IR] for a lit-

    tle more punch. Because the cam-era relies on bounced rays, its good

    for only short distances. The falloff

    is maybe 20 feet, says Aitken. Itsnot like the FLIR, which works on a

    heat signature.The FLIR, or Forward-

    Looking Infrared P640, was initiallyintended only for night-time sur-

    Above: DireLouis Psihoy(left) andspecial-effeartists discu

    the design orock-camhousing thablend in witnative rocks

    the cove.Middle: ChaHambleton, designatedcoordinatorclandestin

    operations,prepares a rcam. BottomAitken andPsihoyos atwork.

    American Cinematographe

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    42 August 2009

    veillance, so the OPS team could

    spot approaching security guardsand make an escape. The FLIR is

    very sensitive in terms of heat signa-tures, says Aitken. Using the tem-

    perature spectrum on the menu,

    you can change the sensitivity fordifferent temperature ranges. It

    saved us a few times as we weresneaking around in the dark. We

    were able to see if there was a guardor dog or sometimes just a bird in

    a tree half a mile away. In theend, Psihoyos decided to incorpo-

    rate some of the infrared footage inthe film; it appears in its black-and-

    white mode. The first model wetook to Japan couldnt shoot color,

    and although the second one did,Louie decided to keep it in sync with

    the first.At night, the team would

    plant up to four cameras. On thecliffs, they positioned XDCams

    mounted with either a Fujinon tele-photo lens (18x5.5mm) and 2x

    extender, or a super-wide-angle

    Fujinon (3.3x13mm). Cameramenwearing full camouflage and face

    paint spent the night in blinds andhad some close calls with security

    guards. Closer in, they used fiverock cams, Sony HDR-SR1s in

    housings that were custom-createdby two special-effects artists at

    Kerner Optical, Nelson Hall andDanny Wagner. One of my friends,

    Wim van Thillo, used to work atIndustrial Light & Magic, and part

    of that spun off into KernerOptical, explains Psihoyos. Nelson

    and Danny made the camera hous-ings under the supervision of Kevin

    Wallace. Made of foam moldedaround Pelican cases, the housings

    matched the color and texture ofTaijis rocks exactly; the filmmakers

    gleaned the necessary details from

    satellite photographs. They reallyoutdid themselves, marvels

    Psihoyos. When we went back toretrieve the rock cams, we had to

    pick up the rocks to tell which werereal.

    Top and middle:A night-vision

    camera wasnecessary to

    capture some ofthe teams work.Bottom: A framefrom an infrared

    camera showsfree-divers

    Cruickshankand Kirk Krackgetting ready to

    sneak into thewater.

    Exposing a Secret Slaughter

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    The SR1 has four hours of

    battery life, which wasnt enough tomeet the filmmakers needs the

    cameras had to be switched on in thedead of the night and then run until

    dawn, when the slaughter occurred.(Aitken notes, We had to pray they

    were framed correctly in the dark.)The filmmakers took the cameras to

    Wyndham Hannaway of GW

    Hannaway & Associates in Boulder,

    Colo. Wyndham is a genius, saysAitken. He was literally pulling cir-

    cuit boards out of cameras and hot-rodding in 11-hour batteries. These

    expedition-grade batteries wereduct-taped around a souped-up

    hard drive. When you opened upthe rock, it looked like a bomb it

    was full of these large batteries that

    looked like sticks of dynamite, says

    Psihoyos. If wed been caught withthat thing, Im sure we would have

    been shot!For covert underwater work,

    they placed an A1U and Sonys larg-

    er HVR-Z1U, shooting in HDVmode. These cameras, too, needed

    camouflage. Attempting a poor-mans version of the rock-cams,

    director of expeditions SimonHutchins had the team buy instant

    cement and chicken wire at a localshop. Aitken recalls, We borrowed a

    busboys tub from the hotel restau-rant and got lots of chopsticks, and

    we were able to make a syntheticrock in the hotel room, mixing the

    cement with chopsticks. Thoseunderwater cameras successfully

    captured the sickening tide of bloodthat washes through the bay during

    the slaughter.Another powerful shot is an

    aerial reveal, when the camera pass-

    Exposing a Secret SlaughterThe filmmakers

    planned tocapture aerialfootage with a

    mini-helicopterand a blimp-

    cam, but windyconditions kept

    the blimp out ofcirculation.

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    es over a cliff to show the crimson-

    colored cove; this footage was cap-tured by a small JR Voyager Z260

    helicopter that had an A1U on itsgyrostabilized Airfoil Prolight cam-

    era mount. Attempts to capture sim-

    ilar footage with the dolphin blimpfailed, however, because conditions

    were usually too windy. However,the blimp did provide an entertain-

    ing diversion when local policethrew up a road block and insisted

    on inspecting the transport truck.The hydraulic door opened to

    reveal this 30-foot dolphin blimp,and all the cops started laughing,

    recalls Psihoyos. How could theyarrest any of us after that?

    More often, though, policeand town officials were hostile. The

    filmmakers fired their translatorafter they began to suspect she was

    reporting their movements, and thecrew was never sure whether it was

    police or maids who visited their

    hotel rooms. As a result, they never

    tested the reusability of the Blu-raydiscs. Instead, all discs and tapes

    were hidden in a hotel air vent, thenhand-carried the next day to FedEx

    in Osaka or Tokyo.

    The digital-intermediatescanning and color-correction were

    handled by Final Frame in NewYork, where Psihoyos worked with

    colorist Will Cox. At


4 Aug 2009

4 Aug 2009

Snapshots Aug 2009

Snapshots Aug 2009

Aug. 19, 2009

Aug. 19, 2009

1 MONTHLY REPORT Aug, 2009 Planning Division Hans Wang 28th Aug. 2009.

1 MONTHLY REPORT Aug, 2009 Planning Division Hans Wang 28th Aug. 2009.

Teren aug.2009

Teren aug.2009

24 Aug 2009

24 Aug 2009

Visofold .Aug 2009

Visofold .Aug 2009

Aug 2009 Tatum Survey

Aug 2009 Tatum Survey

Aug. 28, 2009

Aug. 28, 2009

Aug. 14, 2009

Aug. 14, 2009

July-Aug 2009

July-Aug 2009

News Aug 2009

News Aug 2009

Aug 2009 AK

Aug 2009 AK

June 2009 – Aug 2009

June 2009 – Aug 2009

Aug. 27, 2009

Aug. 27, 2009

PEC FORM AC-1 final aug 2009(Electrical)

PEC FORM AC-1 final aug 2009(Electrical)

22 Aug 2009

22 Aug 2009

26 Aug 2009

26 Aug 2009

6 Aug. 2009

6 Aug. 2009

Aug./Sept. 2009

Aug./Sept. 2009